The Only Exception
by Fear Cuts Deeper Than Swords
Summary: A simple decision made in the breath of a moment can change the course of a lifetime.


Hello Twilight world.

This was only supposed to be a one-shot but instead, I have decided to transform it into a short story. Too many things need to happen, and the plot kind of carried me away. By short story, I mean short. It will probably be less than ten chapters.

Anyway, this is my first time posting a twi-fic and I hope you all like it. =]

Disclaimer: I totally don't own any of the characters in this story. I just like to play with them.  
Oh, and the title of the story was inspired by Paramore's song The Only Exception.

* * *

Isabella Swan made a mad dash towards the back door of her home, tears falling from her beautiful, coffee brown eyes. She ignored the shocked voice of her father as she raced towards the gorgeous white mansion next door.

It was unlikely for Isabella to have an outburst, for she was always a well behaved and well mannered child. However, today was an exception. The only exception. Today would be the day that people would not hold it against her.

Isabella folded her tiny hand into the shape of a fist and pounded on the French doors as hard as she could, too upset to realize that she could have just walked inside. This house was her sanctuary, a place she considered home away from home. She continued to bang on the door, her knuckles scraping against the old wood of it, until it finally opened.

Bella always thought the woman on the other side of the door was one of the prettiest and kindest ladies in the world, what with her gorgeous auburn curls, and bright hazel eyes.

"Mrs. Cullen," Bella hiccupped as tears continued to cascade from her usually bright eyes, "I'm sorry to intrude…" she trailed off unable to continue speaking, too overcome with emotion.

Esme's forehead creased in confusion and worry as she stared tenderly at the sad little girl standing on her front porch. Esme bent down and collected Bella into her warm embrace allowing the girls tears to soak through her blouse.

"Nonsense Bella, "Esme soothed gently, smoothing the girls windblown hair, "You know that you are always welcome here, you are family."

Bella pulled away from Esme, and looked up at her through her tear stained eyelashes, silently asking a question.

It took Esme not even a few seconds to understand exactly what Bella was wondering.

"He's upstairs, in his room. You can go up there if you'd like," She smiled gently at the rosy cheeked girl and watched her dash up the stairs, tripping twice before she reached the top.

Esme shook her head slightly as she made her way into her massive kitchen, stopping only to put the raw cookie dough sitting on top of the stove into the oven before she grabbed the telephone and called Bella's parents.

* * *

Edward stuck his tongue out in mild concentration as he drew a series of lines one after the other, watching in pure satisfaction as the masterpiece he had been working on for weeks finally came to life.

If anyone were to look at the picture in which Edward sketched, they would merely think that it was just a beautiful meadow, a wondrous creation of Edward's mind. To Edward, however, it was more than that. It was a beautiful meadow that truly existed, a place he had found one day when he went wandering through the woods in his back yard, alone. Ever since Edward found the meadow, he had yet to go back, not because he didn't want to, only because he couldn't find it again.

Edward smiled down at the finally completed picture, when all of a sudden his bedroom door burst open with so much force that it slammed against his wall, causing him to jump. Edward frowned and turned towards the door intent to yell at his older brother Emmett for entering his room without knocking again. To Edward's immense surprise the intruder wasn't Emmett after all.

Bella Swan sniffled and wiped her eyes and nose on her dark blue sleeve before glancing up at her best friends face.

"Bella? What's wrong?" Edward questioned dropping the drawing pencil he held before rushing towards the distraught girl.

A whole new set of tears began to descend from Bella's dark eyes as she allowed Edward to envelope her in his comforting embrace.

* * *

"Hello?" The voice on the other end of the phone was gruff, full of raw and pained emotion.

"Charlie?" Esme asked all though she already knew the answer.

She sat on the plush sofa in the family room, feeling perplexed. Charlie sounded completely different, like an entirely new person; a person who had been crying.

Charlie cleared his throat twice before he spoke again, "Yes, it's me. Let me guess, you're calling about Bella?"

Esme nodded despite the fact that he couldn't see her.

"It seems she wandered over here, crying her little eyes out. She seems devastated about something but didn't tell me anything. She ran straight for Edward," Esme explained quickly, her brow furrowed in worry. Something was most definitely not right.

When Charlie didn't answer her for a long while, she began to wonder if the phone line had disconnected.

Charlie's labored breathing confirmed otherwise.

Esme cleared her own throat and removed imaginary lint from her pleated skirt.

"Um, would you like me to send Bella home?" She asked feeling helpless.

"I don't think that would be the best idea," Charlie finally responded his voice cracking in the process, "In fact, I think it would be wise if she stayed over by you for a while if at all possible."

* * *

Bella clutched onto the front of Edwards black t-shirt for dear life as she sobbed.

"She's leaving me, Edward. She's leaving him. She doesn't love us anymore. She broke his heart," Bella sputtered, uncontrollably, "why does she have to leave? What did I do wrong?"

Edward's heart lurched as he comprehended what Bella was saying. For just turning ten years old, he was an exceptionally bright and quick witted child. Edward placed his hands gently onto Bella's shoulders taking a few steps away from her before he cupped her reddened cheeks in his hands.

"Listen to me Bella," Edward encouraged softly, wiping away a few stray tears with his piano fingers.

He held her flawless face in his hands as he looked deeply into her eyes, searching her wounded soul for the answers to his un-asked questions.

"This. Is. Not. Your. Fault,"

Bella shook her head a little about to rebuke what Edward said but before she could even utter a word Edward placed a finger upon her lips, silencing his stubborn best friend from protesting.

"Trust me, Bella, she made the decision. You had nothing to do with it,"

Bella looked up into Edward's green eyes, uncertainty twinkling in her own.

"We'll get through this together, Bella. We'll get through everything together. Nothing will ever tear us apart."

The words that Edward spoke were strong and true, and Esme smiled genuinely when she heard him speak them from just outside his door. Despite the situation, Esme's heart filled with pride at how caring and kind Edward was being to Bella.

Esme walked through Edward's bedroom door and stifled a gasp at what she saw. Bella and Edward's gazes were locked, their eyes never leaving each others, silently conversing, defining just how in tuned to each other they really were.

Esme composed herself and put on a fake smile for Bella's sake.

"Bella sweetie, how would you like to stay overnight for a slumber party?" Esme put as much enthusiasm behind her words as she could muster.

Bella knew that Esme must have spoken to Charlie, and she knew that her father probably wanted her to stay at the Cullen's rather than have her see him broken.

Bella nodded slowly, breaking her gaze from Edwards and moving it to the soft white carpeting of Edward's floor.

Sensing the discomfort of his best friend, Edward gently grabbed Bella's hand and held it in his own.

"Come on Bella, mom made cookies. Let's go get some before Emmett eats them all."

Bella nodded and held Edwards hand as they followed the 'fresh baked cookies' smell that had wafted its way up the stairs.

Esme watched the two children walk past her, hand in hand, and knew for a fact that one day Bella truly would be a member of her family.

* * *

**8 Years Later**

"But Bella." Alice pouted at her friend, her baby blue eyes wide in annoyance, "We have to go shopping together. This is prom we're talking about, Bella. You can't miss this! It's senior prom. I won't let you skip it!"

Alice could be just as stubborn as Bella herself, the way her jaw narrowed, and the way her bottom lip jutted out to show that she wouldn't back down no matter what. She was ten times worse when shopping was involved.

Bella leaned her head on her elbow as she concentrated extra hard on the math homework that was laid out in front of her, studiously ignoring Alice's pleas.

"Isabella Marie Swan!" Alice exclaimed, her voice a high pitched screech, as she stomped her foot on the ground, willing her friend to listen to her demands.

Edward, who had been seemingly quiet throughout Alice's tantrum, looked up at his sister from where he lounged on his bed reading a novel.

"Give it a rest Ally. If Bella doesn't want to go shopping, she doesn't have to."

Alice glared daggers at her twin.

Bella tried to tune Alice and Edward out as best as she could as she stared down at her math problems trying to make sense of it all. Calculus was the last thing that Bella wanted to do at the moment but she had to keep going. She refused to succumb to the horribleness that is senioritis.

"Bella are you even listening to me?!" Alice snapped, as she stomped forward to where Bella sat. Alice snatched Bella's math book from her before Bella even had time to react.

"Alice, what the hell?" Bella asked, frustrated with her friend and the way she was acting.

"Oh hush you. You can do your precious math homework when you go to college. Right now we're discussing prom."

Bella bit her lip and looked at the plethora of cds that adorned Edward's bedroom wall, refusing to meet Alice's gaze.

"I'm not going to prom, Alice."

Bella's voice was quiet, a mere whisper and she wondered if Alice and Edward had even heard her.

She chanced a glance at her friends. Edward was curiously studying her, trying to pry into her thoughts with his gaze. Alice was another story.

Her breathing was heavy and her eyes were a light with blazing anger.

"What, pray tell, do you think is a legitimate reason for you to miss your prom?"

Alice's voice was calm, too calm.

Bella swallowed hard.

"I don't dance, I don't wear high heels, and I…uh… don't have a date," Bella muttered feeling the familiar red blush adorn her cheeks.

"B-e-l-l-a-," Alice groaned, dragging Bella's name out longer than necessary, "What do you mean you don't have a date. I thought Mike Newton asked you out? What about him?"

Edward turned sharply to stare at his best friend in shock. Mike Newton had asked Bella out?! Why the hell had she not told him about this. He could feel his temper rising slightly.

"Alice," Edward's tone was even and it was contradicting the way he felt inside,"Leave."

Alice and Bella both looked up at Edward confused.

"But Edward I…"

"I need to talk to Bella alone," Edward informed her, cutting his sister off from uttering anything else.

Alice threw her hands up in the air and muttered something incoherent as she stalked out the door.

Bella looked up at Edward and gulped when she saw how severely his expression had changed from mere seconds ago.

His jaw was clenched and his usual lopsided easy grin was pulled down into a frown. Bella noticed that his emerald eyes were shades darker than normal as he stared at her. His breathing was labored indicating just how upset he was.

He slowly stood up from his place on his bed and stalked towards where Bella sat.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Edward questioned his voice rougher and deeper than usual.

Bella's brow furrowed slightly as she looked up at her best friend in confusion.

"Tell you what?" She asked her voice quiet, calm.

Edward's frown deepened and he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about Bella," he all but growled, "Why didn't you tell me about Mike?"

Bella's eyes narrowed as she glared at her best friend. She had to wonder why he was getting so upset about her being asked out by a boy.

"It wasn't important, that's why I didn't tell you. Stop over reacting," Bella ordered as she turned to find where Alice had set her math book.

Edward laughed once, a humorless chuckle that had Bella turning back around to look at him in shock.

"It is important," Edward insisted, "I think I have a right as your so-called best friend to be informed when some dumb fuck asks you out."

Bella felt tears prick behind her eyes but she refused to let them fall.

She slowly stood up and walked towards Edward until she was standing directly in front of him.

"How dare you," Bella sneered jabbing a finger at his toned chest, "Why do you think that every guy who asks me out is dumb? Is it because I'm not as pretty as the blondes who seem to throw themselves at you? Tell me Edward, what would you have done if I had said yes to Mike?"

Edward grabbed Bella's hand that was poking him and held it in his own. His breathing was calming down slightly but he was still upset. Maybe Emmett was right when he told Edward to take an anger management course.

Edward ignored Bella's first question. He had a very legitimate answer as to why he thought every single one of those boys who asked Bella out was in fact a dumb fuck, and it had nothing to do with her being ugly, quite the opposite in fact.

He was jealous. He wanted to be the one to ask his best friend to the dance. He wanted to be the one to hold her hand whenever he felt like it. He wanted to be able to kiss her tears away when her mother would make one of her erratic visits. He wanted her to be the one who would grow old with him. He wanted her to love him as much as he loved her.

Bella jerked her hand out of Edwards and went to gather her book bag, quickly shoving her homework into it.

Edward watched her gather her things and head towards the door before he spoke.

"Where are you going?" He asked her quietly.

"Home," Bella snapped, too mad to look at her, as Edward put it, 'so-called best friend.'

Edward exhaled loudly fisting his hands into his unruly bronze-brown hair.

"Don't go," he all but begged, "Please, I'm sorry."

Bella closed her eyes tightly. Edward's voice sounded so broken and it made her heart clench. She refused to turn around because she knew that if she turned around, her resolve would break.

Bella loved Edward. Sure she loved holding the title of 'Edward's best friend,' but it ran deeper than that. She loved his emerald green eyes, and the way his lustrous hair was always in disarray. She found herself blushing every time Edward smiled with her favorite crooked smile. Bella loved Edward, but she could never find the courage to tell him so, too afraid that their precious connection, their beautiful friendship would be ruined.

"Its fine," Bella finally sighed, swinging her back pack over her left shoulder, "But I do have to go. Charlie will be home soon. I have to start dinner; God knows that he cannot cook to save his life."

Edward took a deep breath and walked two easy strides towards Bella so that he was standing directly behind her.

"Bella," Her name fell from Edward's lips like a beautiful love song, "Go to prom with me."

Bella spun around so fast that she nearly tripped over air. Edward put his hands on her shoulders to steady her.

"What?!" Bella asked, breathless as she stared into Edward's green orbs.

Edward smiled slightly.

"Isabella would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the senior prom next Saturday?" Edward asked formally enjoying the way his best friend got flustered.

Bella stared up at Edward wondering if he was joking.

"Why?" She finally asked after what felt like hours of just staring at him.

Edward rolled his eyes and chuckled at his friend.

"Neither one of us has a date, nor are we interested in anyone from Forks. We would probably have more fun with each other than anyone else. Alice will be pleased that you're not ditching senior prom for a fun filled night of homework. It makes perfect sense to be honest. Need I go on? "Edward explained, leaving out the true reason he wanted to take Bella.

Bella eyed Edward cautiously. Was he asking her to the dance as his date because he liked her, or was he just asking because it was convenient for him? She had to know the truth. If she didn't all of the unanswered questions would eat away at her making her feel crazy.

"So, you asked me to prom because it was convenient?"

Edward smiled softly, "Exactly." Well that, and because I love you, He thought bitterly.

Bella forced a smile, willing the pain from her broken heart to go away, even though she knew that it never would. He had only asked her to the dance so that no other guy would and so that he would for sure have someone to go with.

"I can't dance Edward; you of all people should know this."

"It's all in the leading, Bella."

"I'll trip if I wear heels, hell, I'll even trip if I wear flats."

"I'll be there to catch you if you fall."

At this point Bella was looking for any excuse that could possibly get her out of the dance.

"I might go visit Renee in Phoenix that weekend."

Edwards's eyes darkened considerably.

"You and I both know that that's not true." His tone of voice was sharp and held a hint of malice causing Bella to shiver. She knew how much Edward despised Renee for making her feel so insignificant, so worthless, and she regretted bringing her up at all.

"People will talk." Bella murmured. She hated being the center of attention, though being best friends with Edward tended to put her in the spotlight from time to time. Apparently it was virtually impossible for a boy and a girl to be best friends all of their life without there being something more to it.

"They already do. Who cares what they think?" Edward argued, "Besides, we only have to face them for a few more months before we leave for college together, anyway. So it doesn't matter."

Bella didn't say anything. She couldn't say anything to him. The two of them had planned on going to Dartmouth together since freshman year. They planned to rent an apartment and live together for the four years it took to get a degree, neither one of them wanting to part from the other. But recently her plans were changing. Renee had asked her to live with her and her new husband in Arizona and attend college down there. She even offered to pay for all four years. It was her attempt to make up for not being there when Bella was growing up.

And Bella knew that being in love with Edward and not having him return the feelings would only get more complicated if the two of them were living together. It would be torture to watch him bring home girl after girl. Her heart would break every time. There is only so much that one person can take before they never recover. Bella knew that she would never recover from that.

Edward watched his best friend's expression change from sadness to confusion to utter hopelessness in a matter of a few seconds. He wanted to run his fingers across her forehead to smooth away the lines that were forming. He wanted to hold her and make all of the pain that she was feeling go away. All of the pain that her mother had caused her, and every ounce of hurt that he had just inflicted on her. He wanted to kiss it all away.

He swallowed hard and shook his head free from those thoughts. Those thoughts he shouldn't have about his best friend, who obviously didn't feel that way for him.

"What are you thinking?" He asked, needing to know what was running through her beautiful mind, what it was that was causing all of the heartache on her flawless face.

Bella looked up at Edward who was standing even closer to her than before and let out a sigh. She wouldn't tell him. She wouldn't have him talk her out of it. She couldn't have him talk her out of it. And God knows he would do just that. She was defenseless when it came to Edward Cullen. She would do anything he asked, even if that meant stay with him and love him unrequitedly. No. She would never tell him. Of course he would find out when she was gone, but she couldn't be the one to tell him.

In that moment she had made a decision that would ultimately change their lives forever. A decision that he would probably never forgive her for. But she knew that if she didn't go through with it, she would never forgive herself.

"I'll go to prom with you." She bluffed, saying what he wanted to hear in that instance. Needing to see him smile his crooked smile at least one more time before she moved away from him and the life she'd ever known.

Edward didn't disappoint, though he never really did. His green eyes were light and filled with happiness as he scooped her up into his arms and kissed her on the forehead before she buried her face in his chest.

"It'll be fun. We'll make it fun. I promise, I won't let you fall."

She let out a humorless laugh though, he didn't seem to notice.

It was too late. She had already fallen and unlike his promise, he wasn't there to catch her. She knew that the only way to move on was to pick herself up and leave him behind. It would be the hardest thing that she would ever have to do. But she had to do it.


End file.
